“Wow, what a small world it is,” Ed said as he sat behind his desk sipping his coffee like the Mad Hatter. “Who knew my rising star would have history with my new executive producer. I mean, what are the odds?”
“History?” Cole echoed, giving me a sideways smile. “Yes, I guess you could say that we have history. Wouldn’t you say, Lucy?”
Ed looked at me with his eyebrows arched in anticipation. I knew what he was thinking. He was hoping that it was good history and not bad history. Cole had told him we were high school sweethearts, but he didn’t tell him how things ended between us. I didn’t bother telling him that the only thing that tore me and Calvin Walker apart was his dad getting transferred in the middle of our senior year, literally two weeks after we gave each other our virginities. I was devastated that Calvin was moving back to some base in freakin’ California. Calvin was devastated, as well, but he was a guy. Emotions came secondary to him. He was sad to be leaving the girl he loved, but he was sadder to be leaving the girl he was now regularly fucking. It was okay. I knew how boys thought. It wasn’t that big of a deal. My heart was breaking either way.
We had sex three more times before he moved away. The last time was in my bed on a Saturday afternoon while my folks were at my little brother’s softball game. It was the first time we’d ever been in a bed together and I loved the feeling of lying there with his strong arms wrapped around me. And unlike the first time we’d made love where things were done quickly and awkwardly and with a sense of urgency, we made love slowly and passionately, like adults, both knowing that it would be the last time we ever made love, but the one time hopefully we’d both remember forever. I certainly did.
After Calvin moved away, we tried to stay in touch, but it was hard. We emailed and chatted, and called each other when we could. He was an entire country away, and when I was accepted to Stanford and he was accepted to UCLA, the distance between us just seemed to grow. The last conversation we had was short, sweet, and to the point. To his credit, Calvin allowed me to be the one to end it. I love you, but the distance is too great. I need to focus on school now. You need to do the same. We should probably date other people. Okay. Have a good life. Bye.
And that was it. That was the end of our brief, passionate relationship. He moved on and so did I. Seventeen years had passed and now, as fate would have it, I was sitting next to that boy who was now a man. A remarkable looking man, who looked like a magazine ad and smelled like Aramis. And I was now a grown woman who couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to fuck him again after all these years.
“So, Dr. Walker, I was explaining to Lucy before you arrived how well-received your segments are on Friday evenings.” Ed leaned forward on his elbows and rubbed his hands together. They made a sound like two blocks of wood rubbing together. “I had not gotten to the part about your contract coming up for renewal.”
“Contract renewal?” I frowned at Ed then gave Calvin—Cole— a wary smile. “Uh oh. My first day here and I have to talk to you about your contract renewal?”
“That’s being handled by the folks upstairs,” Ed said with a look of relief that it wasn’t him negotiating directly with Cole. He wouldn’t have stood a chance. “And it’s my understanding that things are going well. Is that your understanding, Doc?” He looked at Cole with a hopeful smile.
“That’s being handled by my manager,” Cole said, gracefully deflecting the question. I could tell that he was deflecting by the way his eyebrows arched and his head tipped to the side, like he used to when I’d ask if wanted to stay for dinner on the nights when my mother had made stuffed peppers. He hated stuffed peppers and I knew it. I only asked because I loved to see him sweat. In this case, however, if he was deflecting it was because the negotiations were not going the way Ed thought they were.
“Well, I’m sure things are going well,” Ed said, though his voice had lost some of its surety. He leaned back and spread out his hands. “Hopefully, we can expand your role on the program, Doc. And now that I know you and Lucy are old friends, well, I’m sure things will just be lovely.”
“Lovely?” I said with a smile. I turned to Cole and nodded at Ed. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only person on the planet that would make Ed use that word.”
“Lovely is a good word,” Cole said, his eyes lingering on mine. He held out his hand and I took it without hesitation. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe it either,” I said.
“Um, I hate to break up the reunion, kids,” Ed said, still smiling, though I got the impression that the smile was becoming more forced by the minute. He looked at me and tapped the crystal of this watch. “It’s almost four. We need to get to the preshow meeting, then we have a show to do.”
“I understand,” Cole said without letting go of my hand. He turned sideways in the chair and leaned on his elbows to tug me closer. “What time will you be finished tonight?”
“Uh, well,” I glanced at Ed because this would be my first newscast and I had no idea what time we’d be done.
“She’ll be free by eight,” Ed said, the confident smile returning. He didn’t have to say it. He loved the fact that his executive producer was an old flame of his rising star. I’m sure in his mind the contract negotiations had just swung in the network’s favor. The truth was, he was probably overestimating the influence I had over Dr. Cole Walker after all this time. We were high school sweethearts and hadn’t seen each other in nearly twenty years. I seriously doubted anything I had to say would hold sway now.
“Then I will be in a car waiting downstairs at eight,” Cole said, squeezing my hand. “Dinner and a game of chess?”
“That sounds lovely,” I said with a smile. “Though I haven’t played chess in years.”
“That’s okay,” he said, getting to his feet and tugging me up with him. He held out his arms and I stepped into them. He whispered in my ear. “Neither have I.”
I hadn’t done a lot of things in years, I wanted to say, but didn’t.
I’d had lots of sex since our last night together, mostly with my shit head ex-husband, but I had never felt the way I had felt in Cole’s arms, at least until that moment.
Chapter 10: Lucy